In modern times in Los Angeles, a group of cops is investigating a mysterious trail that appeared
overnight and looks like a large creature made it. Reporter Ethan arrives to cover the news,
but nobody wants to answer his questions, although he gets to see a clue: in the middle of the field
there's an object that looks like a huge scale. He takes a picture and takes it to his office because
he's sure he's seen this before, and as Ethan glances at a medallion that he always wears,
he remembers what happened fifteen years ago. When he was a little kid, Ethan went with his dad to
an antique store. While his dad tried to sell an old blade to Jack, Ethan looked around and found
a mysterious box, which unlocked itself after sensing his presence and revealed a huge scale
that glowed brightly. Jack could sense what was going on and pretended to have a heart attack,
so while Ethan's father rushed to find help, Jack approached Ethan to share a story. Legends spoke
of giant snakes called Imoogis and every five hundred years, one snake would be turned into
a celestial dragon to reward it for its good deeds. For that to happen, an object known
as Yuh Yi Joo was needed, which the evil snake Buraki tried to steal for itself. To stop this
from happening, the rulers of Heaven hid the Yuh Yi Joo in Korea and when the local lord had a
daughter named Narin, she was destined to carry the Yuh Yi Joo on the dragon birthmark on her
shoulder. Unfortunately Buraki also learned this information and was waiting to reappear on Narin's
twentieth birthday, when Yuh Yi Joo would finish forming inside her. The Heavens also chose two
warriors to protect the Yuh Yi Joo: Haram and his master Bochun. Haram learned from his master all
about the good Imoogi and visited it at its cave, Bochun also gave him a medallion sent by Heaven
that would protect him from any danger. Haram's duty was to make sure that Yuh Yi Joo would reach
a good Imoogi and not Buraki when the time came, and Narin had to be sacrificed for it. However
Haram still spent a lot of time with Narin and they two became a couple. Eventually Buraki sent
his Atrox army to attack the village, which couldn't defend itself against the Atrox's
mighty beasts and magical attacks. The soldiers began checking the shoulders of every woman,
causing a citizen to tell them about Narin in exchange for being left alone. At Narin's house,
the soldiers killed her father to make her come out of hiding and immediately took her away when
they saw the mark on her shoulder. Moments later, Bochun and Haram attacked the soldiers to rescue
Narim. While Bochin continued to fight, Haram took Narim to the Imoogi cave, and seeing her in pain,
he decided to quit his duty as a guardian. After dropping the medallion for Bochin to find later,
Haram ran away with Narim instead of sacrificing her to the good Imoogi, however Buraki found them
and chased after them. Then the creature cornered them on a cliff, and the couple decided to end
things rather than be used for evil. After the story was over, Jack gave Ethan the medallion
and explained the boy was the reincarnation of Haram while he was the reincarnation of Bochun.
This was their second chance to fulfill their duty, so Ethan had to find a girl named Sarah,
who was the reincarnation of Narin and also was born with the dragon mark. Once he's remembered
the whole story, Ethan asks his friend Bruce to help him find Sarah with his computer skills.
However Bruce explains it'll take him a while because there are hundreds of girls named Sarah
with shoulder tattoos. Meanwhile the FBI gets the lab results from the scale and now knows there's a
strange giant creature loose in the city. At the local gym, Sarah is watching the news on the tv
with her best friend Brandy. When the camera shows the scale that was found on the mysterious trails,
Sarah is overwhelmed with a feeling of dread and runs home to find an old book of talismans,
which she proceeds to hang on the wall to protect herself. Later, Brandy comes to check
on her and doesn't believe her when Sarah says something horrible is about to happen,
but she does convince her to go out so she can forget about her paranoia. At the bar, Sarah
tries to distract herself, but she can't get rid of her fear and decides to leave. On the street,
a group of men tries to harass Sarah, only for a weird hobo to suddenly show up and beat the guys
up before leaving without saying a word. At the local zoo, caretaker Belafonte hears some weird
noises, and when he goes to check, he discovers an elephant has been killed by Buraki. Belafonte runs
away in fear and soon Buraki leaves as well, so by the time an Atrox general comes looking for clues,
he finds nothing. Later at the police station, Sarah is trying to tell the cops what happened
to her, but nobody believes a random hobo could beat three guys up. A journalist does think her
story is interesting though, and he takes a picture of her. The next morning, Ethan
goes looking for Jack at the store, but he isn't there. The Atrox general finds him and wonders
why Ethan isn't looking for the Yuh Yi Joo, but at that moment, Ethan wakes up at his office.
His coworker shows up with the story from the police station, and as soon as Ethan sees the
picture, he can sense this is the right Sarah. Ethan decides to stay late in the office to look
for her address. Meanwhile Belafonte is trying to tell the cops about the snake, but they don't
believe him either. Sarah is trying to leave the station in her car, but as soon as she touches it,
scales appear on its surface. Terrified, she steps back and bumps into a cop, who suddenly reveals a
magic sword and tries to kill her. At that moment Sarah wakes up in her bed and begins feeling
unbearable pain, so she calls 911 and they take her to a hospital. Moments later, Brandy tries to
visit her friend, but the hospital receptionist won't let her because she isn't family. Brandy
and her boyfriend decide to go to Sarah's home and at least get some clothes to bring
during visitation hours. Suddenly the whole house begins shaking, and when they go outside to check,
they find Buraki roaring at them. The couple tries to run away, but they find their way blocked by
the general. This gives Buraki the chance to bite Brandy, but it throws her body in the pool when
it realizes this isn't Sarah. The next morning when Sarah tries to leave her hospital room,
only to discover the door is locked and there's a guard outside. When she begins screaming,
security and nurses have to come to calm her down by force. Meanwhile Ethan finally finds
Sarah's profile, but he's suddenly interrupted by a phone call telling him to cover a murder.
When Ethan realizes the address is the same as Sarah's, he rushes there and is relieved to see
the dead girl isn't Sarah. Then he overhears a neighbor saying she saw a giant snake and
that the house owner is at the hospital, so Ethan goes there next. The hospital receptionist tells
Ethan that Sarah has been quarantined because the mark on her shoulder may be infectious,
which sounds very suspicious. Meanwhile Belaford is sent to see a psychiatrist, who decides he's
crazy. At that moment, Buraki appears at the window and Belaford tries to prove his story, but
the snake leaves before the doctor can see it, and Buraki is sent to the mental ward. Back to Ethan,
he wonders what to do when he suddenly bumps into a doctor who recognizes him from his stories,
saying he's a big fan. The doctor agrees to help him see Sarah and takes him to her room, where he
finds her in a shy and scared state because nobody believes her when she says something dangerous is
coming. Ethan explains it's already happening, but before he can say more, Buraki begins attacking
the hospital. The doctor comes to warn the couple and sends them out through a back exit,
right after they're gone the doctor reveals to be Jack using an illusion again, implying he had
also been the hobo. Ethan and Sarah find Bruce waiting in his car and immediately take off.
Buraki tries chasing after them, but the car is faster and leaves it behind. A few miles later,
Bruce accidentally hits someone with the car, and Ethan recognizes him as the Atrox general
from his dream. The general wants to capture Sarah, so Bruce tries shooting him and Ethan
hits him with a piece of wood, but neither can hurt him. Next Bruce steals the general's sword,
but the sword sheath itself because Bruce isn't its master, and the general hits Bruce with a
shock of magic. Then he tries to go after Sarah again, only to be suddenly hit by a random car.
Ethan quickly drags Sarah into the new car and asks the driver to take them away. Afterward,
Buraki decides to summon the rest of his Atrox army as backup. Meanwhile the FBI starts a meeting
to discuss what's going on. Some higher-ups don't want to believe it, but there's enough evidence to
indicate there's a mythical monster on the loose, and all the clues lead back to Sarah. Therefore
the agents get an order to capture the girl and terminate her if necessary. They also send a group
of soldiers to go after the snake, finding it hiding in a cave. The soldiers open fire,
but the bullets do nothing and Buraki chases them out of the cave, where the soldiers are quickly
defeated by the general's magic. Moments later, the driver leaves Ethan and Sarah by the beach,
asking them to leave town. After they're gone, the driver reveals she was also Jack. Ethan and
Sarah go for a walk to discuss the visions they've had and they share a kiss while Ethan thinks about
the fact Sarah may have to die for the Yuh Yi Joo. Next, they go to visit a psychology professor who
specializes in extracting repressed memories. The professor hypnotizes Sarah and she begins
seeing memories of the day her father died, but then she keeps going back and sees Narin
and Haram's story. Suddenly Sarah starts glowing and floating, meaning the Yuh Yi Joo has finally
finished forming. This awakening has been sensed by Buraki, who shows up to start destroying the
house. Ethan and Sarah escape in a car, and Ethan calls Bruce to ask for a favor. Moments later,
the couple meets Bruce at a café, and Bruce confirms he's pulled some strings to get a
helicopter for them. He also gives Ethan a gun even if Ethan hates weapons. Afterward,
Jack shows up and reminds Ethan he can't change Sarah's fate, so the right thing is to take her to
the Imoogi cave. Ethan ignores him and drags Sarah out of the building right before Buraki arrives to
attack again. Bruce picks the couple in his car, only for Buraki to throw another car at them to
make them crash. Ethan and Sarah try to run again and find themselves cornered by Buraki, but at
that moment the police open fire on the snake and give the couple the chance to escape. As Buraki
chases after them through the city and causes lots of destruction, Ethan and Sarah climb to the top
of the Liberty Building, where the helicopter is waiting for them. The moment it tries to take off,
Buraki grabs it with its mouth, so Ethan makes Sarah jump with him back to the roof
before the snake crashes the helicopter on the ground. The sky begins darkening as Buraki gets
ready to devour Sarah, but the army helicopters arrive and begin shooting at it. Buraki fights
the helicopters, making many of them crash but eventually becoming overpowered by their attack.
At that moment, the general and his beasts arrive as backup, and they destroy everything on their
path no matter if it's helicopters, tanks, or buildings. Sarah and Ethan leave the building and
are found by two FBI agents, who take them away in their car. When they reach a safe warehouse to
hide in, the agents revealed they've researched the legend and they know about Sarah's destiny.
One of the agents tries to shoot Sarah, but Ethan jumps between them to save her and the bullet only
wounds his arm. When the agent tries again, his partner shoots first because he's realized killing
two young innocent people isn't the answer. Then the agent gives them his car keys and asks them
to do the right thing. Moments later when the couple is on the road, the general's beasts
show up and begin shooting fireballs at them. One hits the car and makes it flip, causing the crash
to knock the couple out. When Ethan wakes up, he finds himself tied to a pole in Buraki's lair.
Sarah is dragged to the altar to be sacrificed to the snake, but right before she can be devoured,
Ethan's desperation to save her finally activates the pendant. A bright light from Heaven hits the
pendant and the whole Atrox army, instantly knocking out Buraki and killing everyone else
except for the general. The burning pendant breaks the rope and Ethan runs towards the altar to fight
the general, only to get easily overpowered. When the general tries to land his final strike,
he accidentally hits the pendant and gets killed by the magic. Buraki wakes up and throws Ethan
away before going after Sarah. However at that moment the good Imoogi finally shows up and
begins fighting Buraki. As the monsters engage in a furious battle, Ethan wants to take the chance
to escape, but Sarah sees that the good Imoogi is losing and finally accepts her destiny. She
summons the Yuh Yi Jooh and sends it to the good Imoogi, who instantly wakes up and transforms
into a legendary dragon. With this new power, the dragon easily defeats Buraki and kills it for good
with a fireball. Afterward, the dragon comes to check on Ethan, who is holding Sarah's unconscious
body. The dragon expels the Yuh Ji Jooh for a few seconds to transform Sarah's body into her pure
essence, and she gets to appear before Ethan to tell him she loves him and that they'll see each
other again someday. Then Sarah becomes part of the Yuh Ji Jooh and the dragon picks it up to
go to heaven with Sarah's tears in its own eyes. Ethan watches them with sadness, and when he turns
around he sees Jack's spirit disappearing too as he congratulates him for doing the right thing.